Seafood Expo is 24% bigger than last year

This year’s 29th edition of Seafood Expo Global and Seafood Processing Global will be the biggest by some distance, chief organiser Liz Plizga said today.

The event at the Gran Via venue at the Fira de Barcelona will have 49,299 net square metres of exhibition space, which is 24% more than last year and 21% more than the 2019 edition, which was the largest in the event’s history and the last held at its former venue in Brussels, Belgium.

More than 2,000 exhibiting companies from 87 countries have signed up for this year’s expo, which takes place from April 25-27, and there are 68 regional and country pavilions.

China returns

Companies from China, which couldn’t take part last year because of strict Covid travel restrictions, are largely back, taking 2,144 m² of space, which is 78% of the space occupied by Chinese firms in 2019.

In total, there are about 770 new exhibitors and at least one new Asian national pavilion, Japan.

“We chose Barcelona for its infrastructure, it provided room where we could grow,” said Plizga, group vice president of US company Diversified Communications, which owns the event.

Continued growth

Plizga said she expect continued growth of the event in future years, depending on the geopolitical situation. There are no representatives from Russia or Belarus following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, although there is one company from Ukraine.

“We have seen a lot of growth on the processing side [this year],” said Plizga.

The conference program at this year's event will offer more than 20 educational sessions that will address the principal challenges, opportunities and solutions that are transforming the seafood industry. More than 85 leading international experts from the industry will share practical and theoretical knowledge of the most current issues for the seafood industry.